CNTs as an additive for rubber? – Rhein Chemie joins in a project of the Innovation Alliance Carbon Nanotubes (Inno.CNT)
Monday, 29. June 2009 Rhein Chemie has been highly successful with Rhenogran® and continues to expand the line with new product developments. Rhenogran® is the brand name under which the company produces and markets pre-dispersed, polymer-bound rubber additives. Rhenogran® can significantly improve the quality of a rubber compound thanks to the selected, pre-dispersed powder chemicals it contains. Because Rhenogran® is dust-free, it also eliminates the health risks associated with inhaling dangerous chemical dusts. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are the latest example of the application of this concept to an innovative raw material. CNTs display extraordinary physical properties, such as very high electrical and thermal conductivity combined with the immense strength of the individual nanotubes.
Rhein Chemie has been highly successful with Rhenogran® and continues to expand the line with new product developments. Rhenogran® is the brand name under which the company produces and markets pre-dispersed, polymer-bound rubber additives. Rhenogran® can significantly improve the quality of a rubber compound thanks to the selected, pre-dispersed powder chemicals it contains. Because Rhenogran® is dust-free, it also eliminates the health risks associated with inhaling dangerous chemical dusts.
Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are the latest example of the application of this concept to an innovative raw material. CNTs display extraordinary physical properties, such as very high electrical and thermal conductivity combined with the immense strength of the individual nanotubes. The challenge involved in using this innovative raw material in industrial products is to transfer the properties of the individual nanotubes to a macroscopic composite material, the most critical factors being the careful dispersion of the “tangled” nanotube agglomerates and their uniform distribution in a rubber matrix. As a specialist for highly dispersible, polymer-bound rubber additives, Rhein Chemie therefore is developing safe processes for manufacturing CNT masterbatches for elastomers that can be used as additives, for example to make heavily stressed safety components with antistatic and/or heat-conducting properties.
This new development project was launched in February 2009 in cooperation with Inno.CNT, an initiative of 80 partners in industry and science funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). For more information, go to www.inno-cnt.de.
Rhein Chemie is a company with a successful track record in customized additives and service products stretching back over 100 years. The approximately 850-strong workforce produces and sells products for various sectors of the rubber, lubricants and plastics industries. The company has subsidiaries and production facilities in Europe, Asia as well as North and South America. Rhein Chemie is a wholly owned subsidiary of LANXESS Deutschland GmbH, Leverkusen, Germany.
Mannheim, 29. June 2009
bit (2009-06-810EN)
Forward-Looking Statements
This company release contains certain forward-looking statements, including assumptions, opinions, expectations and views of the company or cited from third party sources. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could cause the actual results, financial position, development or performance of LANXESS AG to differ materially from the estimations expressed or implied herein. LANXESS AG does not guarantee that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does it accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the opinions expressed in this presentation or the actual occurrence of the forecast developments. No representation or warranty (expressed or implied) is made as to, and no reliance should be placed on, any information, estimates, targets and opinions, contained herein, and no liability whatsoever is accepted as to any errors, omissions or misstatements contained herein, and accordingly, no representative of LANXESS AG or any of its affiliated companies or any of such person's officers, directors or employees accept any liability whatsoever arising directly or indirectly from the use of this document.
